Promise Me
by BizzHopp
Summary: Naruto is always making promises, he fulfills them too. But what if someone promised him their heart? NaruHina all over this ;)
1. Chapter 1

**Promise Me**

**Chapter 1**

***Author's Note: I do NOT own Naruto, although it would be nice if I did ;)***

"Oh come on Iruka-Sensei! One more bowl! PLEASE!"

The yellow haired leaf genin always pulled through the same routine every Thursday when they catch up.

"Not this week, Naruto, I'm kind of in a rush today. Lady Tsunade called some of the chūnin in to the mansion to discuss this year's chūnin exam. That includes me. Speaking of which, are you going to be trying this year?

"PLEASE Iruka-Sensei? Just one more bowl?"

Naruto batted his eyes at his former sensei and pulled a puppy-dog face, begging his for more ramen. Iruka knew he couldn't be there much longer, so with a sigh he struck a deal with the young shinobi.

"Tell you what, Naruto, I'll make you a promise. If you promise me that you'd enter the chūnin exams this year and pass, I promise I'll treat you to all the Ichiraku Ramen you can eat for a week, how does that sound?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU'VE GOT YOURSELF A DEAL IRUKA-SENSEI! I'll become a chūnin in no time, and then I'll become Hokage! Believe it!"

A wide, devilish grin spread across his face. The type to make Iruka slowly regret what he just said. But he quickly brushed the thought off, as he had to get going.

As the two parted ways, Naruto thought it would be good to re-familiarise himself with the village so he took a stroll through the alleys of Konoha.

It wasn't long before he bumped into a mysteriously familiar figure,

"Naruto. I see the rumours are true, you have returned from your training with Master Jiraiya."

"Wait, who're you again?"

"You do not remember me?"

"Umm, can I get hint? Oh wait, no you're, uhh- don't tell me…"

"You know Naruto, you should at least try to remember your comrades, or otherwise, you might crush their feelings."

"That weird way you talk, you must be, umm… errr…"

At that point a small insect flew out from behind his tall collar, when it all 'clicked' for Naruto,

"You talk weird, you're really quiet, and you have bugs on you, bugs, umm. Oh! You're Shino!"

"You recognised me by speech patterns and insects? You haven't changed a bit, Naruto"

Shino replied with a hint of sadness when just at that moment, a huge white dog dropped from a tree, with a spiky haired ninja riding on top of it looking at Naruto with a grin.

"Well look who it is, Naruto Uzumaki! It's been a while, kid."

"Hey, Kiba! It really has been a lo- Hey who are you calling 'kid'? We're the same age!"

Shino then turned his head, as what appeared to be a small rain cloud appeared over him, soaking him wet, as he mumbled,

"He recognised Kiba straight away, why not me?"

"Because no one can tell who you are under all those layers Shino!"

Naruto yelled back,

"So why are you guys here, Kiba?"

"Oh, we're here waiting for Sakura so we can all go see Tsunade about helping with the chūnin exams."

"Wait, so I'm guessing you three are all chūnin now? And what about Hinata?"

A mutter came out from behind the dog tamer,

"You even remember Hinata, and she's not even here! Why are you so cruel to me, Naruto!?"

"He's still sulking!?"

"Never mind him, Naruto. While you were gone, Sakura became an honorary member of team 8 because Hinata was borderline 'forced' to stay within her clan's compound for 'special' training. And so, Shino, Sakura and I all became chūnin. Which leaves you, Choji and Hinata as the only genin from our class."

"Oh, I see"

A shadow just then, blocked the sun for a brief second before a sharp pain inflicted upon Naruto's head, rendering him unconscious for a moment. When he woke up, he wasn't surprised to see that none other then the 'Cherry Blossom' herself, Sakura Haruno, inflicted his pain.

"Naruto! What are you doing here!? Aren't you supposed to be making a squad to train with for the upcoming chūnin exams?"

"Nice to see you too Sakura!"

"Don't you dare try and talk to me like that!"

"Y-yes ma'am! I mean Sakura! But how am I supposed to create a new squad when there's no one I know to take the test with?"

"There's Hinata and Choji!"

"Wait, Choji? Didn't he pass with Shikamaru and th-that blonde girl? Ino?"

"No, Naruto, he didn't, remember? He was eliminated from the exams during the preliminaries. And now they both need to become chūnin, and if you want to be Hokage like you say you do, you need too as well. Now go grab them and train before I smash you into the ground again!"

"Y-ye-yes S-Sakura!"

And with that, the genin was off in a flash to the Hyuga Clan's Compound for Hinata.

***Thus ending chapter 1 of this story.**

**Some things I should mention here for now, so you don't get confused:**

**This isn't canon to the original story's timeframe, and thus the Akatsuki are a ways away from being introduced into the story ****Choji was knocked out of the exams by Rock Lee. ****The Chūnin Exams are to be taken in squads of three, but by the final stage becomes more independent**

**Thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed this, I will be uploading more to this,**

**Some feedback would be great and reviews would be appreciated**

**BizzHopp, Ghost ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

***I do NOT own Naruto**

**and btw, _~This indicates the person's thoughts~_***

As the orange-clad ninja raced towards what had come to be known as 'The Hyuga Compound', one thing flashed through his mind, Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto had always thought of him as the brother he never had, and never really wanted, but he was the closest thing to a brother Naruto had. All Naruto could think of was bringing Sasuke back to Leaf, and bringing together squad 7 as it was, with Kakashi-Sensei. But all that would have to wait if he couldn't find him in the first place.

As he drew closer to the estate, a huge cloud of dust seemed to be flowing out of it. Naruto slowed to a walk, and stopped at the front gate, trying to see past through the dust. As it slowly disappeared, Naruto could make out faintly two tired silhouettes. One slightly hunched over and one on their knee. It quickly became clear to Naruto, the person closest to him; the one on their knees was Neji Hyuga, Hinata's older and somewhat stronger cousin, this however, was not evident as Naruto saw Hinata in victory over her cousin.

"You fought well cousin. You have improved greatly over the past two years."

"Thank you Neji."

"Now if I'm not mistaken there are some great chakra levels flowing from behind me, I also get the feeling the person with that chakra signature isn't here for me."

"I'll go check, although I was not expecting anyone to be here for me"

The young Hyuga girl walked towards the front gate, and to her surprise, a grinning Naruto was there staring right at her.

"Hey there Hinata! That was impressive out there!"

"N-N-N-Naruto?"

"Woah! You've changed heaps! Your hair is so long! Is that a new outfit!? It looks great!"

She barely heard what the young ninja was saying to her over the thoughts running through mind.

_~Why is he here? Is he here for me? Was he watching me fight? When did he get back?~_

It was all too overwhelming for her, to the point where her eyes slowly closed as she collapsed on the ground right in front of the Uzumaki child with a bright red tinge to her face.

"Are you ok Hinata? Hinata!"

Though slightly unconscious she still could hear his voice echo throughout her mind, saying her name. How she loved hearing him saying her name.

She woke up to find herself in her room, convinced that she just had another vivid dream, to find that sitting on her bed next to her was none other than the secret love of her life, Naruto Uzumaki, next to her cousin Neji of course.

She had blushed a thousand shades of red before she could even open her mouth,

"Why are you here, N-Naruto?"

She cursed at her nerves.

"Oh I'm here for you Hinata!" He said with a smile and wink.

"M-Me!?"

"Yup! I need you Hinata!"

"What!?"

The boy had no idea what he was doing to her emotions,

"Naruto…" Neji spoke up, "Obviously you seem to be sending mixed messages to Hinata. You should be more specific."

"Huh?"

"Tell Hinata why you are really here."

"Oh. Well, Hinata, I need a 3-man squad to test for chunin. And I was told that you and Choji are the only ninja from our class who are still genin. And I'm wondering if you would join me to sit th-"

"Yes Naruto! I will!" She exclaimed unconsciously,

"Really Hinata? Great! Now I need to go convince Choji, it may only take a few bowls of ramen" He said with a chuckle "We'll meet up tomorrow at Training Ground 3, ok?"

"Hai!"

And with that, the two boys left her room, Naruto behind Neji, when Naruto turned to face the girl,

"See ya soon Hinata!" and with a wink, he walked out.

***And so chapter 2 is complete. I don't how long these are, i know this one is a bit short, but I hope you are enjoying it so far.**

**Reviews and comments are always welcome.**

**Thank you for reading ***

**BizzHopp, ghost ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

***NB: I do NOT own Naruto ;)**

**And this = _~Signifies thoughts~ _***

At the crack of dawn, there was a quiet ninja roaming quickly through the village. Naruto had already convinced Choji to join; it cost him a few bowls of ramen and two extra large bags of potato chips,

"The chips really are for my chakra, Naruto!"

"Whatever you say Choji! I just need you to be the top of your game when the exam rolls around, so I don't mind"

The young Akimichi's response brought a childish grin to Naruto's face.

He was heading towards the Hyuga Compound to pick up Hinata.

Yet, not surprising to Naruto, the young Hyuga girl was all ready for the day and waiting patiently outside her family's estate, twiddling her fingers.

"Hinata! You ready to go?"

The girl quietly nodded her head

"Choji should be there already, so let's get going!"

A few minutes later the two ninja caught up with Choji at the training field, who evidently had already scoffed down the two bags of chips.

"Already!? What are you gonna eat for lunch?"

Naruto yelled in a joking tone,

"Well we're close to the village we can just go back for lunch!"

"Umm… boys?"

A soft quiet voice spoke up, silencing the two boys almost immediately,

"I've got more than enough food for all of us"

The quiet Hyuga girl held up a scroll, with the word 'bento' across it's seal.

"Then it's settled, we'll break for lunch in three hours, I'll create some shadow clones for you two to spar with for a warm up. I've also asked Rock Lee if he could join us to help us trai-"

"NARUTO! I'm glad to see that the fires of your youth are still burning immensely. You really do know how to inspire!"

Oh Bushy Brow, you're here. Great, so now we can begin with our warm up!"

Naruto quickly dispensed two shadow clones for Hinata and Choji to fight, as Rock Lee positioned himself in a ready stance, awaiting Naruto's move.

The four ninja sparred for the best part of an hour without breaking a sweat; it was quite obvious that they had become much stronger than they were at the academy, Hinata especially. Once they were all warmed up, Lee remembered he needed to go do something, the three remaining ninja became curious as to why, because Lee had not mentioned why he needed to go.

So as the ninja carried on, stretching and recouping what little chakra they had lost, they took their stances for a little race Naruto had set up,

"I've placed two flags at the top of the Hokage's Mansion, last one there, doesn't get to eat. The rules are simple, you can do anything to stop another person from grabbing a flag, but who ever comes back here without a flag, loses. Also, no putting villagers in danger, or getting caught by, well anyone. Got it!?"

"Hai!" The two ninja replied,

"On your marks, get set, g-"

"HEY NARUTO!"

"Bushy Brow Sensei!? What are you doing here?"

"Lee told me you guys could use some help training! So I'm here to help your youthful flames burn brighter!"

"Uh, ok?"

"First I want you guys to give me five hundred push ups…"

"Easy! I can do that in my sleep!"

"…while holding a handstand! This will improve your upper body strength and you bal…" The bushy browed Jonin continued whilst Naruto mumbled under his breath.

"Oh, this is going to be a long day!"

Six hours later, the Jonin decided that was enough training for the three ninja, dismissed them, and thanked them for allowing him to 'fan their youthful flames' along with inspiring him with his own.

"Ichiraku ramen anyone? My treat!" Naruto exclaimed,

"Um, Naruto it's ok, we can just eat the food I've prepared, save your money for yourself." And with that, the quiet kunoichi pulled her scroll out and removed the seal to reveal a banquet of food, more than enough to feed the three, so they asked Gai-Sensei and Lee, who rejoined their training in the last hour, who kindly accepted.

"This is amazing Hinata!" Choji complimented,

"Yeah, you'd make an excellent wife, Hinata!" A certain yellow haired ninja yelled out,

The kunoichi quickly turned bright red, before fainting,

"Was it something I said?" He said in response to her passing out.

They talked and laughed as they exchanged anecdotes untill the sun was almost out of sight.

As the meal came to a close, Gai-Sensei and Lee thanked Hinata for the food and company before turning and exclaiming,

"All right Lee! To burn off the excellent meal, let us run five hundred laps around the leaf!"

"Yes Gai-Sensei! We mustn't let our flames of youth diminish!"

"Oh Lee you make me so proud! Come here Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei! Really!?"

And continued to chorus each others name while the other three ninja packed up and began to walk home.

"Hey, I'll see you two tomorrow, my mother has dinner waiting.

"But Choji, you just ate!"

"And?"

"Never mind, see ya' Choji!"

And he ran off, much faster than normal, and left Hinata and Naruto to walk by themselves.

The walk was quiet until they reached the gates of Konoha,

"Hey, Hinata. Thanks for the meal today, and joining this squad, it really means a lot to me."

"It's nothing, really N-Naruto."

"Why do you always have a stutter, Hinata?"

"I only s-stutter when I'm nervous"

"Why're you nervous for? It's only me, you don't need to be nervous!"

"B-because, I-I. I just want to impress yo-"

She quickly changed subjects,

"You seem to have gotten stronger N-Naruto" she said with a smile

"Wait were you gonna say Hinata? You want to impress? Who?"

"Um, I want to impress…"

He stopped walking to hear her response.

There was a long silent pause as he stared into her eyes, begging her to continue, all while waiting patiently,

_~I guess now is as good a time as any to tell him, but can I bring my self to it? He's been gone for two years, and I've trained myself hard to catch up. I must go for it, or I may lose him!~_

"You, Naruto"

"Me?"

"Yes, I just want to impress you, because…"

"You want to impress me? Why?"

"Because, because. Ever since we were kids, you were there for me, I-I could never defend myself properly, but at least I had someone to defend me, whether it be Kiba or my younger sister, Hanabe. But you, y-you had no one to defend you, people hurt you, I see you get hurt, but you never let it show. You inspired me to become stronger. You defended me. So I promise you n-now N-Naruto Uzumaki, whether we're a team or not, I will protect you! Because…"

Naruto then did something completely out of character; he dropped his hands, as a tear rolled down his cheeks,

"Because… I LOVE YOU NARUTO!"

"Hinata, thank you for today. Allow me to walk you home in return. "

He walked her home as if she hadn't confessed to him, until they arrived at the front gate of the Hyuga Compound.

He turned to face her,

"Hinata, don't have to keep that promise, I can protect myself. But can you promise me something?"

***Thus ending another chapter! I hope you enjoyed this so far. As always, feedback is welcome, don't be shy to critique me, it helps a lot.**

**Thank you reading *******

**BizzHopp, ghost ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

*A/N: I do NOT own Naruto ;) *

Chapter 4

"W-what is that, Naruto?"

Her stutter slowly removed itself as she spoke,

"Promise me tha-"

"Lady Hinata! You're back! Your father, wishes to see you before you go to bed."

"You better do what he says, Hinata. I don't want you to get in trouble or anything."

"N-no, Naruto its fi-"

"Tell you what Hinata. I _promise_ I'll tell you tomorrow, okay?"

"O-okay, Naruto"

"Right this way, Lady Hinata."

"See ya Hinata!" He flashed his signature grin, and turned to run off to the darkness,

"Bye… Naruto"

She wished she didn't have to say those words, but it would be impolite not to bid him her farewells. She turned and left alongside the clansmen

As Naruto ran off home, things rushed through his mind, things he never thought he'd think of,

_~Hinata __**LOVES**__ me! I couldn't have ever imagined that! Should I have seen it coming? What signs were there? Do I love her back? I mean she is quite pretty, yeah? And I guess it's a bit cute how she talks, though half the time it's near impossible to hear her. Wait! What am I thinking! Hinata is just a friend! Can't be thinking of her as anything more or less! A comrade I can depend on! ~_

By the time he stopped his train of thought he was at his apartment, as he walked in, a glimmer of hope shone through his mind,

~_I hope someone's here waiting for me! ~_

"I'm HOME!"

He shouted as he opened the door, only to have it echoed back in his face by the emptiness within his one bedroom apartment. He foolishly took a step forward and tripped over a rubbish bag filled with empty ramen packets. As he got up and turned on the light he noticed how much of a mess he made over the past week; clothes everywhere, empty ramen packets, rubbish bags, just to name a few items scattered over his now invisible floor.

"I'll clean this tomorrow!"

And with that, the yellow-haired boy crashed on his bed a fell asleep.

When the boy woke up, he looked out his window to the beautiful sound of birds chirping outside his window. Though it was a very cheap apartment, it also had one of the most beautiful views of Konoha. Enough to make the boy stop and stare at the beauty of his beloved village, the trees surrounding the village, how the sun rose from over the hill, it was breathtaking.

Almost as breathtaking as the sweet aroma that filled his apartment, he always enjoyed the delightful smell of his neighbour's pancakes in the morning; it's one of the reasons why he enjoyed opening his windows.

But this was different, they smelled especially divine. Which made Naruto smile with envy and delight, until he noticed; his windows weren't open. He questioned this as he cautiously turned around to find that his apartment was spotless! He opened his closet to find his outfits arranged perfectly, his drawers neatly cleaned and not a speck of dust anywhere!

Before the boy could comprehend this, his movements were stolen by the aroma of bacon and pancakes, and before he knew it, he was at his table surprised with a buffet for breakfast; pancakes, bacon, eggs, orange juice, coffee, waffles, maple syrup, fresh fruit, the list went on!

He wanted ponder on who did this until his instincts grumbled via his stomach and forced him to eat. As the boy ate through the meal, a figure stood by his kitchen area, watching him. Blushing. Smiling.

When Naruto's eating paced slowed down, he looked up as he ate to look at the mysterious figure that had snuck into his home. The figure had him star struck.

"Is everything ok, Naruto?"

"Yeah Hinata, thank you for breakfast! I love it! Almost as much as you!"

_~What am I saying! ~_

He had no idea why he couldn't control his words; this was a problem, as he moved closer to Hinata uncontrollably.

"Hinata, I've always loved you!-"

As said those words, Naruto suddenly woke up in a hot sweat. It was morning and he was almost relieved that his small apartment was still a mess. Still he couldn't escape his thoughts about the dream he had.

_~Maybe secretly, so secret that even I cannot seem to notice it when I__'__m awake, I really do love Hinata, and I maybe I see something for us?~_

"OK! Time to get ready to train!-"

*GRUMBLE!*

"OK, maybe I should get some food to eat first before I do anything else. SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"

Naruto dispersed with little chakra two shadow clones to go tell Hinata and Choji to meet up at Ichiraku Ramen for breakfast before training.

_~Maybe I__'__ll tell Hinata how I feel after training when it__'__s just us two? Yeah that__'__s what I__'__ll do!~_

***And that****'****s chapter 4 done!**

**I know it****'****s taken me a while to put anything up, I hadn****'****t much time to do much cause I had school and things like that, but I also didn****'****t have much time to write, so I could only try and fix my grammatical errors in the earlier chapters. I will however be updating a bit more often now I have more time on my hands ****.**

**Hope you have enjoyed reading this and please leave reviews on what I could improve (besides my grammar), that will all be greatly appreciated.**

**BizzHopp, Ghost **


End file.
